LAVENDER AND TRAP I will either boil water or run a bathtub because on Sundays, I love to take a hot bath, with lavender Epsom salts. DAVIES: You know, this is tough material in these classes. So, to savor this rich, hot drink in my hand is so fabulous with cinnamon, not too much sugar. How can we have justice without redemption? Please consider giving a gift to support BPIs groundbreaking work to redefine college access in America and to counter the harm of mass incarceration. DAVIES: Tell us a little bit about the work you're doing. And so yeah, that is a huge impediment to trying to learn. And that moment when that letter came forever altered the trajectory of my life. Since 2001, BPI has created groundbreaking opportunities for college within Americas prison systems. And what the film shows and the work at BPI shows is that that cannot be more untrue. And I just want to - after the euphoria of graduation, I mean, you certainly - you know, you had this terrific asset, this college degree that a lot of ex-offenders don't. They worked with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose dossier was leaked and published. In December 2020 Congress finally restored Pell Grant eligibility as part of the omnibus spending and COVID relief bill. Who among us is capable of academic excellence? And then upon entering prison, I felt the same otherness that I felt while I was in middle and high school. You know, I am originally from Albany, N.Y. Incarcerated men and women are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative, a rigorous college program, where some make great strides while others . Once enrolled, BPI students engage with the college full-time, embarking on a course of study that is ambitious and matches the breadth and intensity of any undergraduate learning experience. The ONLY thing I could find was the recent murder of the pregnant (at the time of filming) CO Breann Leath who apparently . YOON: And it was a very interesting moment for me where I realized that the education that I was receiving in prison was the same education that I would receive had I gone to college out there. Now that Im thinking about it: more often than not, Im recognizing that the Twin Towers is not part of that skyline anymore. And I'm back at BPI today as the Government Affairs Officer, expanding - helping to expand access to college and prison through public investments in the work that we do. And I think the answer is no. TATRO: No. Who has access to educational opportunity? Both of you went into prison as teenagers and came out as young men. I have two brothers - one older, one younger. They were doing advanced mathematics, math without numbers on the board. YOON: There's this moment where you walk past his door, and all you see is curtains and officers waiting in, like, rows. The faculty generally find this experience so energizing because of that exact thing - that they have to sort of - if they're teaching a course on the Bard campus and in BPI, they actually have to make the BPI version a bit harder, get more assignments and, you know, up the reading because the students are just so eager for the material and expect so much. WASHER WARS After that, I will follow that bike lane back home and do my laundry. So people in the corrections department recognize that as well. 80% are BIPOC. There's a lot of interaction with the students, with the professor and with each other, and a tremendous amount learning also goes on outside the classroom. And in the context of the '90s and the tough-on-crime rhetoric and the super predator kind of, you know, demonization of people who have been convicted of crimes, as part of the Clinton crime bill, there was an amendment to withdraw eligibility for Pell grants for people who were in prison. We see him, don't we? I mean, anybody who watches this film will think, gosh, I don't know if I could handle this stuff. "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. And when we leave this room tonight, there is now something that can be taken away from you that's completely different than when you walked in. In one of our most power episodes ever, BPIs founder Max Kenner and recent graduate Sebastian Yoon join Adam this week to discuss howReadMore, One graduate, featured in a new PBS documentary, shares the ups and downs of earning a degree behind bars. This is FRESH AIR. College Behind Bars is the inspiring, emotional, and deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes. You've just tried to add this show to My List. Skiff Mountain Films 2019 | info@skiffmountainfilms.com - and wait until you get the all clear? I thought it was incredibly well done in all ways. College Behind Bars | A Film by Lynn Novick | PBS All Episodes Now Streaming Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of. The Bard Prison Initiative enrolls over 300 incarcerated students in six New York State prisons. College Behind Bars, the four-part documentary about the transformative power of education, premiered nationwide on PBS in November 25, 2019. And this is not obviously the happiest part of your life, but - and you can say as much as you want about it, but I think the audience would be interested in knowing a bit about what your life was like coming up. And it helped me understand my place in the world and activated me as a civically minded person. NOVICK: Yeah. college behind bars where are they now. They've earned college degrees and are now employed. Your purchase supports PBS and helps make our programming possible. And so I was a little bit intimidated by that. So it has a ripple effect even beyond people applying to just - you know, the facilities where there is higher education have less incidence of violence and disruption and things like that. And she said, well, welcome to college. The majority were first arrested as minors. So you have this problem where you have to try to juggle these two realities, one of which is so beautiful and one of which is so dark and disgusting where you have to reveal your body and your orifices. There are counts. I have to really compete with mostly older women to get my clothing washed. But the Allens still have mixed feelings about free degrees for inmates. YOON: I would say that all my friends right now are my peers from the BPI program, and our network is really growing. There are bells. Meg & Tomas Bergstrand; Regina K. Scully; The Lise Strickler & Mark Gallogly Charitable Fund; a fund at The New York Community Trust; Patty Quillin through the Meadow Fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Barbara & Richard Novick; Chicken & Egg Pictures; The William H. Donner Foundation; Hartley Film Foundation; Bertha Foundation; The Harnisch Foundation; Compton Foundation; and Lisa Philp; and members of The Better Angels Society: The men,ReadMore, College Behind Bars, a new PBS documentary executive-produced by Ken Burns, shines a light on a program that every major university in America should be sponsoring Max is the founder and executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, and Rodney received his bachelor's degree from Bard College in 2017 through the Bard Prison Initiative. So currently, I work as a program specialist with the Democracy Fund of Open Society Foundations, which is one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in the world. Fact: "College Behind Bars" airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're discussing the new four-part PBS documentary "College Behind Bars." YOON: But to those who would ask that question, Dave, you could also ask them, would you ask the same question of students who are out here? And they thrust you right back into prison. You know, what's striking about this program is that - I think a lot of people who think about ways that prisons can help incarcerated people get jobs when they get out of prison is to provide vocational training - you know, teach people to be welders or auto mechanics or, you know, stuff like that. You tend to have these open cell blocks, and people are locked in their cells. For 22 years he didnt have one. They work in business, the arts, and media; they attend graduate school; they have careers in human services. And I went to prison for 12 years at the age of 19, 20 for assault. NOVICK: I'd just add that one of the really remarkable things about this program is that the admissions process is looking for people who have kind of intellectual curiosity and determination. It took me six years to get from where I was to where Bard was. The subjects and filmmakers reveal how the power of education changes lives. This movement took on renewed urgency following Congresss reinstatement of Pell Grant access to incarcerated students in 2020. And, you know, one of the just greatest moments there is that when the BPI students were getting up to walk the stage, the president of the college, Leon Botstein, said - you know, he said these are some of our most distinguished and greatest students, and the whole student body stood and gave us a resounding round of applause. If this kind of opportunity were widely available and the sort of foundational skills made possible, a lot more people could take advantage of it. The documentary, "College Behind Bars," airs tonight and tomorrow night on PBS stations and will also be available for streaming. DAVIES: This school also has graduation ceremonies, and this is very moving. For more information about ways to support the Bard Prison Initiative, please visit our Support page or contact bpidevelopment@bard.edu. Theres Filipino food, theres Indian cuisine, theres Turkish cuisine, theres Asian food, theres Greek restaurants, theres a diversity. James Wiley. And within, you know, a month, they're doing college-level reading and writing. I worked as a cook. Both are featured in the PBS documentary series College Behind Bars. With Botstein onboard as a producer, Novick set out to direct what became the four-part PBS docuseries "College Behind Bars." Executive produced by Burns, the documentary examines mass. DAVIES: We're talking about the new PBS documentary "College Behind Bars" with Lynn Novick, who directed the series. Now, I still havent taken to wine. I think that realization came to me when I sat down and began writing my first cover letter and my first resume. Since its first cohort in 2001, BPI students have earned over 52,000 credits and more than 550 Bard College degrees. For streaming, visit pbs.org . By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Good job. TATRO: So I actually graduated with my BA after I was released from prison. GROSS: Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro earned bachelor's degrees from the Bard Prison Initiative. And I'm wondering - I'm going to ask Sebastian. They become the support system that we need to rely on. 27 2023 . Neither had been in a maximum security . The College: Comprehensive Academic Engagement. Virtually none return to prison. So I grew up in Flushing, Queens. Dyjuan, what's it been like connecting with your family again? DAVIES: And if you're in class when it's time for a count, what happens? I don't think I heard anybody use that as an excuse for committing crimes, though. Ive got to say, this is the worst part of Sunnyside: its very competitive. That degree really means something when they leave this program with their degree from Bard. And one of the reasons that we had to focus so hard and have that - the discipline that we had in this program is so that we could focus on the work and get the work done in a place where there's a lot of stress, pressure and distractions. Read BPIs open letter here. I'm not going to wear that. That was not our experience at all. NOVICK: Yeah, pretty much. Kind of how large are the classes? And that's - Pell grants are supposed to be based on economic need. Let's start with a clip from the documentary. YOON: For me, a liberal arts education cultivated in me conceptual and intellectual openness that invited me to consider worlds outside of my world from different times, thought and space. You got to go back to your - I guess to your cell - right? Born behind bars. Yoon and Tatro earned college degrees taking rigorous courses taught by Bard College faculty in a maximum-security prison. It's two different systems, right? A scholar who has taught in prison weighs in on 'College Behind Bars,' which airs Nov. 25 and 26 on PBS. Adult learners are, you know, much more mature and have life experience. Simpson and Fritsch have a new book called "Crime In Progress." Mr. Hall is the first formerly incarcerated person to be hired full-time by the Ford. Our associate producer of digital media is Molly Seavey-Nesper. And I think - I was lonely. Sometimes, it could take six hours. (Speaking Korean) Thank you. I had to show my passion. I went on to work for Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney on his attorney general campaign here in New York. I'm Terry Gross. I may watch Netflix, but I generally just read. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. And I remember walking in and seeing men like me in prison uniforms, except that they were speaking Mandarin. That kind of thing. Rodney, Sebastian and Giovannie embark on yearlong senior, The debate union faces Harvard. And because the coffees so bad, we overcompensate with sugar or creamer. One of the toughest parts of living in Sunnyside, Mr. Hall said, is finding a vacant laundry machine. So there was this kind of seamless movement from one setting to another. College Behind Bars is directed and produced by Lynn Novick; produced by Sarah Botstein; edited by Tricia Reidy ACE; produced by Salimah El-Amin and Mariah Doran; original music by Jongnic Bontemps; cinematography by Buddy Squires ASC and Nadia Hallgren. How much noise is there, and does that make it hard to read, Dyjuan? Thats another thing I think is a spillover from prison: I saw the television as a space of conflict because people would argue over what to watch, so I stayed away from it. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Born Behind Bars is a documentary series that takes place in a maximum-security prison in Indiana. As public funding of college-in-prison returns to the field the question shifts from Will there be college-in-prison? I mean, it's a wide range of liberal arts curriculums. It's about a program in which professors of Bard College give college classes in six correctional institutions. 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